5 Mission Trip Debrief Activities: How to Keep the Team Together
Mission trips are incredible experiences.
Those who serve alongside you create an undeniable impact on your journey. These individuals are the ones who genuinely relate to your post-travel transformation. Embrace these relationships. Keep them growing.
Here are five mission trip debrief activities to keep your mission team connected, even after you return home.
1. Hold a mission team debrief meeting
One of the best mission trip debrief activities is to hold a debriefing meeting with the team.
Provide a safe place for your team to discuss what they learned during the trip and how they’re processing their change back to regular life. One debrief meeting is essential. More check-ins will aid your team’s transition back to normal life and continue to foster the bonds you created during the mission trip. Feel free to add, edit, and incorporate these mission trip debrief questions as you see fit.
Mission trip debrief questions
- What did you learn about yourself?
- What new thing did you learn about God?
- How did the mission trip impact your faith or prayer life?
- What did you learn about the people you served?
- What did you appreciate or learn about the culture?
- What did you learn about poverty and injustice?
- What did you learn about servanthood and discipleship?
- How can you continue to support those you served?
Pro tip: Bonus points if you host the debrief meeting over a traditional meal you shared while abroad!
2. Continue fundraising for your cause
Did your team love selling homemade, caramel corn for your trip?
You can make one of your team’s favorite fundraisers a regular event at your church. The proceeds from this can directly fund the organization you served during your mission trip, or you can use the funds to help send the next mission team. Not only will this continued fundraising keep your mission team together, but you’ll continue to support the on-site missionaries financially.
3. Encourage regular prayer
What better way to keep your mission team connected than through prayer?
Consider meeting once a month to pray for the nation you visited and the people you encountered during the mission trip. Pray for the local church and the new believers. Pray for those unreached in the area. For guidance on broader issues to pray for in the country your team visited, check out Operation World: the definitive prayer guide to every nation.
4. Stay in touch for updates
Don’t you want to stay up-to-date with the country you visited or the ministry you supported?
The trip leader can send monthly emails each team member. These updates can be as short or as long as you want–just enough to give a current snapshot on the local ministry or the local country news. Likewise, many missionaries and organizations have monthly newsletters you can sign up for!
If managing an email list sounds too complicated, the trip leader can easily start a Facebook group for their missions team. This way the leader can provide updates, and the team can stay connected. Keeping the nation and mission work fresh in your mind is one of the effective mission team debrief activities you can easily incorporate after your trip.
5. Connect veterans with new mission teams
Does your church regularly send mission teams?
Let your veteran missionaries meet and talk with those going on a mission trip for the first time. Bridge the gap by connecting these groups. Those who have lived the missionary experience will provide incredible insight for first-timers. This interweaving will encourage discipleship and connection even before the new team hits the mission field.
Regularly meeting together and staying in touch will continue the conversation. Your mission team can increase its impact even after the mission trip is over. These are just a few ideas for mission trip debrief activities. What activities would you add?
Looking for other ways to reintegrate to daily life after your mission trip? Here’s our advice on working through reverse culture shock.
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